Monday, December 8, 2014

Wrapping it Up

I'm finishing up my NaNo draft - 64k and counting. I've left myself tons of notes along the way about things to add, things to polish, and things to change.

The last few chapters are waiting for me and I have to plow my way through. While I have an idea what's going to happen (the main characters will live and get their HEA), it's the getting there that's tough.

Endings aren't easy for me. Tying all those plot lines together isn't my strength - probably because I don't plot in advance. One of my MCs is currently in major trouble and the other is oblivious, but closing in.

The next few scenes need to be full of action and emotion. I think I'm good with the emotional part of it all, but the action sequences are more difficult. By focusing on the emotion of the characters going through the actions, my writing is getting stronger, but it's not there yet. I'll probably end up rewriting these chapters a dozen times. *sigh*

How about you, are you good at wrapping it all up at the end of your stories, or is it a challenge for you, too?

34 comments:

It's a challenge for me, too, even when I do have an outline! I have to really work at my endings to make them wrap things up nicely, but in a way that isn't obvious or overly sentimental. Endings, for me, are almost as hard as beginnings!

Endings are the hardest part for me. I now almost always close with a wrapped up subplot (main plot having been wrapped up in the previous chapter). Action scenes are also pretty tough. I just write very short and choppy, use strong verbs, and then finish it up quickly, since it's not my forte. :) Hope it goes well for you and congrats on NaNo!

Congrats on getting to the final few chapters! Endings are, hands down, the hardest part for me. I have been looking at doing more plotting work beforehand because I always seem to end up with so many plot threads and it's so difficult to tie everything together.

Endings aren't usually a problem for me because I have the ending set before I start. It comes from being a computer programmer - I always start with "What to you need the end result to be?" then write a program that we get me there.

That's so cool that you won Nano. I'm jealous. I'm such a slow writer, Nano would frustrate me to no end. I desperately wish I could write faster. I'm with you on the emotional aspect of the story. I'm so glad you've acknowledged that you're improving. So many of us (me included) always focus on the negative. So yay you!!! :)